TROY, Maine — A fire that the longtime Troy fire chief described as a “raging inferno” killed a dog and a cat and destroyed a home Monday afternoon.

Firefighters had to contend with icy, slippery road conditions that made just getting to the Alley Lane house fire difficult, according to Chief Larry Raymond.

“It hindered the response time for the firefighters,” he said of the mix of snow, rain and sleet that made roads treacherous. Altogether, firefighters from nine towns responded to the emergency call that came in at about 11 a.m.

Raymond did not release the name of the homeowner, a firefighter from a neighboring community who already has suffered one house fire.

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“He’s not taking it very well,” the chief said.

Investigators from the state fire marshal’s office said Monday that the Alley Lane fire was definitely accidental, Raymond reported, but they were not releasing an official cause just yet.

After a passerby called 911 to report that the single-story house had flames shooting through the roof, responding crews found a fire that was generating a tremendous amount of heat, the chief said. A house trailer located 10 or so feet from the burning building already was smoking from the heat, but the 25 firefighters from Troy and the communities of Dixmont, Plymouth, Newburgh, Detroit, Burnham, Unity and Thorndike were able to stop it from catching fire.

“Everything went like clockwork,” he said. “The guys did a humongous, excellent job of stopping the fire when they did.”

But it was too late to save the burning home. The dog and cat that perished were “best buds,” Raymond said, adding that their deaths were very sad.

“I’ve only encountered a few fires of this magnitude with this heat,” he said.